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As far as I’m concerned, Halloween is only good for one thing: making it socially acceptable to begin getting ready for Christmas. Sure, I’ve had some fun with costumes over the years, and there’ve been a few good parties in there. But overall, the holiday of ghouls and goblins just isn’t my jam. And yet, I’m surrounded by friends and loved ones who are so into the spooks that I can’t get away from it. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, right? While I wait out the days until November 1 and the first spin of my holiday playlists, there are a few festive shows and movies I’ll be…

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You'll watch most of Beautiful Boy with a lump in your throat. The story of a father and son (Steve Carell and Timothee Chalamet) navigating the younger man's battle with addiction, the whole film is achingly tender, wounds and vulnerabilities exposed to the light in ways that aren't always easy to watch, but are always worth the attention.

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Damien Chazelle has come a long way from his first feature film, the no-budget hipster indie musical Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench (it’s in black and white, for Pete’s sake). Like Scorsese with Leonardo DiCaprio, he’s also struck up a bit of a creative partnership (and one imagines a friendship) with Ryan Gosling, who sang and danced his way through La La Land, the musical perhaps best known for losing Best Picture to Moonlight. Chazelle, however, did win Best Director that year, and with each new film he puts his name on, we’re witness to an artistic evolution of a filmmaker gaining both confidence and skill as he goes. First Man, based…

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I first saw the 1954 version of A Star Is Born on the big screen; I got to see it as part of a sidebar program at the Chicago International Film Festival several years ago, and despite its length (the restored cut is just 4 minutes shy of three hours long), I was riveted. Judy Garland’s Vicki Lester is so complex, so multifaceted; it’s clear this role is a sort of accomplishment for a woman who’d been on screen since the age of 14, and Garland’s ability to carry the character from ingenue to stardom to desperation is, in a word, striking. The story—an aging, veteran entertainer discovers an up-and-comer only to…

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Ethan Hawke has been nominated for an Oscar four times, twice for writing and twice for acting. This year, he may just add another for his spellbinding performance in Paul Schrader’s gut-wrenching First Reformed. Though not recognized to the same degree, Hawke has also spent his fair share of time behind the camera, from 2001’s ensemble piece Chelsea Walls to the 2014 documentary Seymour: An Introduction. Hawke returns to the helm with his latest film, Blaze, a biopic about Austin-based musician Blaze Foley (nee Mike Fuller). Blaze combines a lot of what Hawke (who makes a small cameo in the film) loves, including Texas, music and Richard Linklater. With an indulgent 127 minute…

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This is a crosspost with Third Coast Review. The most compelling part of White Boy Rick, the true story of a Detroit teenager who became a hustler, an FBI informant and a drug kingpin all before the age of 16, comes at the very end of the film, when a brief epilogue addresses Rick Wershe, Jr.’s fate after the same enforcement officers he’d informed for desert him when he becomes a defendant. In an instant, an already multi-layered drama about the strength of family ties, coming of age in a crime-riddled city and the choices we make when we’re painted into the proverbial corner manages an even more meaningful depth as an…

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You’ve found my online home for film reviews, travel adventures and everyday observations. Currently in Chicago, you’ll find archives from travels through India to life in NYC and plenty in between. Subscribe to be notified of new posts, or just check back often for what’s new in my world.